It was fun while it lasted. Unilever says it won’t bump up its £50bn offer for GlaxoSmithKline’s consumer products division, so one has to assume that’s the end of the saga. GSK’s board, after all, can’t credibly have second thoughts about entering a negotiation: it had rejected £50bn as a “fundamental undervaluation”.
Yet two big questions remain for Unilever’s board. First, why wasn’t the refusal to improve the offer made on Monday this week? On that day, remember, the chief executive, Alan Jope, emphasised exactly the same commitment to “strict financial discipline” but also declined to rule out a higher bid.
